Last reviewed October 2026
- Issued by
- The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)
- Valid for
- Depends on the licence: an EIA licence attaches to its project, while operating licences such as waste licences are renewed periodically; check each licence's term
- Who needs it
- Project proponents, waste handlers and transporters, firms discharging effluent, and contractors whose contracts require it
- Where to apply
- NEMA's online licensing system, linked from nema.go.ke, or a NEMA county office
- Cost
- Fees set by NEMA that vary by licence and, for EIA, by project cost; check the current schedule with NEMA
What it is
NEMA administers the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act and its regulations, and issues several licences under them. The one contractors meet most is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) licence: projects listed in the Act cannot start until an EIA study or project report has been approved and a licence issued.
Other NEMA licences concern operations rather than projects: licences to transport or handle waste, to run a waste facility, and to discharge effluent into the environment. Firms in cleaning, sanitation, waste collection, medical waste, fuel and some manufacturing work hold these as part of doing business.
When tenders and contracts ask for it
For works, the EIA licence is usually the employer's responsibility, obtained for the project before construction. But tenders often require the contractor to comply with its conditions, to hold or obtain licences for its own activities such as quarries, borrow pits or batching plants, and to submit an environmental and social management plan.
For services, tenders for garbage collection, cleaning with waste disposal, exhauster services, medical waste handling or fumigation commonly make the relevant NEMA licence a mandatory requirement, and the evaluator checks it is current and in the bidder's name.
How to get it
- Identify the licence: EIA for a project, or the waste, transport or effluent licence for the activity you carry out.
- For an EIA licence, engage a NEMA-registered EIA expert to prepare the project report or study; NEMA reviews it and may call for public participation.
- For waste and effluent licences, prepare the company documents, details of the vehicles, facility or discharge point, and any test results or approvals NEMA asks for.
- Apply through NEMA's online system or a county office, and pay the fee NEMA assesses.
- Keep the licence and its conditions with the project or vehicle, and diarise renewals and the environmental audits the licence requires.
Why bids fail over it
- The licence attached was for a different activity, such as a general waste licence for a medical waste tender.
- The licence had expired or was in the name of a subcontractor or vehicle owner, not the bidder.
- Vehicles listed in the bid did not match those on the waste transport licence.
- No environmental management plan was submitted where the tender scored or required one.
- The firm attached an EIA licence for an unrelated project as if it proved general compliance.
How Tendakazi helps
Record each NEMA licence in the vault with its activity and expiry and you are reminded before it lapses. Our analysts flag NEMA and environmental requirements when they read a tender, and say whether the licence you hold fits the activity the tender describes.
Our statutory desk can coordinate an application or renewal as a quoted service, working with registered EIA experts where a study is needed. NEMA decides every licence; we prepare and follow up.
Questions
Does a contractor need its own EIA licence for a government project?
Usually the project owner obtains the EIA licence, and the contractor must follow its conditions. Read the tender for any licence the contractor must hold itself.
Which NEMA licence do waste collection tenders ask for?
Typically the licence covering the transport or handling of the waste in question. Check the tender and confirm the right licence with NEMA.
Can anyone prepare an EIA report?
No. It must be prepared by an expert registered with NEMA. Check the expert's current registration before you engage them.
Do NEMA licences expire?
Operating licences such as waste licences are renewed periodically. An EIA licence attaches to its project, with audits and conditions to keep.
Our statutory desk coordinates your NEMA application or renewal, and the vault watches the licence from then on.
New firms get 50% off every service for their first 30 days.
Read next
General information for suppliers, not legal, tax or financial advice. Procurement law, regulations, thresholds and government systems change: check the current rules with the procuring entity, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the National Treasury or KRA, and speak to an advocate or tax adviser about your own case.